HOUSTON, Texas – Sophomore
Sam Lewis scored a team-high 14 points to lead the Toledo men's basketball team on Wednesday night in a 78-49 defeat at No. 12/15 Houston (7-3) before a sold-out crowd of 7,035 fans in the Fertitta Center.
"Houston is a great program that shares the ball on offense and is the best defensive team in the country," Head Coach
Tod Kowalczyk said. "We definitely saw what it's like to compete against the best tonight."
The Cougars lived up to their billing as the nation's leader in field-goal percentage defense by limiting the Rockets to a 29.6 shooting mark. Houston shot 44.8% from the field and 4-of-24 (16.7%) from three-point range.
Sophomore
Grgur Brcic led the Rockets (6-5) with six rebounds in 11 minutes off the bench. Fifth-year senior
Isaiah Adams dished out a team-high three assists, while sophomores
Bryce Ford and
Sonny Wilson each grabbed a team-best two steals.
Terrance Arceneaux was one of five Cougars to score in double figures, finishing with a game-high 16 points and nine rebounds.
HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST HALF
- The Cougars took an early 9-2 lead with a 7-0 run.
- Seth Hubbard hit two free throws to cut Houston's lead to 10-5 at the 13:15 mark.
- Hubbard buried a three-pointer to end a 12-0 Cougar spurt and bring the Rockets to within 22-8 with nine minutes left in the half.
- Sonny Wilson's three-pointer to end the half put Toledo down by a 39-22 margin.
SECOND HALF
- Andre Lorentsson's first three-pointer of the game trimmed Houston's cushion to 44-27 with 16:37 remaining.
- Lorentsson added another triple just over two minutes later to close the gap to 50-32.
- The Cougars broke the game open with a 12-1 run over the next three minutes to establish a 62-33 advantage.
- Sam Lewis' three-pointer at the buzzer capped off a 9-0 Rocket run in the final three minutes.
UP NEXT
Toledo will face its second straight Top 25 opponent when it travels to West Lafayette, Ind on Sunday, Dec. 29 to face No. 16 Purdue. The contest will be televised live on the Big Ten Network at 6:00 p.m.
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